Marion School District working on plan to shore up security efforts

More state funds for security would be welcomed by the Marion County School District, which is currently formulating a plan to beef up safety at all 51 campuses.

By Joe CallahanStaff writer

More state funds for security would be welcomed by the Marion County School District, which is currently formulating a plan to beef up safety at all 51 campuses.

Brian Marcum, Marion's Safe Schools coordinator, said the first item on the district's shopping list would be adding what he calls a “panic button-type” system. Additional state funds could help offset that cost.

The district also is working with Century Link to connect every classroom to the 911 call center, officials said.

For security reasons Marcum could not divulge too many details. All he would say is that the button will be located on the classroom telephone.

In other words, he said, the caller would no longer have to hit four buttons — 9 to get out of the building and then 911 — to get help.

He said the startup cost will be about $100,000, mainly for software, with a recurring annual cost of $34,000.

He said installing cameras in all the schools, a cost of about $750,000, would be next on the list. That's unless extra state security funding surpassed $3 million — the amount needed to finish fencing in all of the campuses.

School Board Chairman Ron Crawford said a new software update will be added to the phone system this week while the district is on spring break. The software will include Legacy Elementary, which comes on line in August, and possible upgrades needed to connect classrooms to 911.

In recent years, the district has received $915,000 annually for security, 80 percent of which pays for middle and high school resource officers. The rest covers social workers and Marcum's salary.

“Any extra money will help,” Crawford said.

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.